Paquette, 25, was an underrated part of the Tampa Bay machine last season, scoring 13 goals while suiting up for a career-high 80 games. Though he only added four assists and averaged just 12 minutes of ice time, he locked down the team’s fourth-line center position, was a key penalty killer and easily led the club in hits with 269. There’s no reason to think he’ll ever be an offensive dynamo in the NHL, but the Lightning will be happy if he can continue to win faceoffs and provide his physical play during limited minutes. With J.T. Miller and Ryan Callahan gone this season, that type of grinding game will be appreciated even more.

Verhaeghe meanwhile is still trying to crack the NHL squad, but had about as good a minor league season as anyone last year. The 23-year old put up 34 goals and 82 points in 76 games to lead the AHL in both categories (tying his teammate Alex Barre-Boulet in goals) and should compete for a spot on the roster this fall. The former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect is eligible for waivers and could be claimed if the Lightning try to send him back to the Syracuse Crunch once again.

Free agency is now just a few days away from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Tampa Bay has already made moves to clear some salary off their books but have several RFAs needing new deals. Here’s a closer look at their free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agents: F Brayden Point — For Tampa Bay, the entire offseason comes down to Point and his next deal after he exploded for 41 goals and 92 points in 2019-20. The undersized forward has worked his tail off since dropping to the third round in 2014 and is now one of the best two-way centers in the league. While teammates Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos may get more national coverage, Point’s impact on the Lightning is irreplaceable and he’ll be looking for a huge raise coming off an entry-level contract that saw him record 198 points in 229 games. There is optimism that a deal will eventually get done between the two sides, but Point is in a group of restricted free agents around the league that are all waiting to see each other’s contracts.

F Cedric Paquette — While Point is the straw that stirs the drink this offseason, Paquette shouldn’t be overlooked. The 25-year old center provides a physical, grinding presence that the team may be lacking now that J.T. Miller and Ryan Callahan are gone and even scored 13 goals in limited minutes last season. A good faceoff man and key penalty killer, his 269 hits would be difficult to replace if the team was forced to go in another direction.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: D Anton Stralman — Easily the biggest loss through free agency this summer for the Lightning will be Stralman, who has been the epitome of consistency for the last five seasons. The veteran defenseman has provided a stable, stay-at-home option on the right side for some of the more offensive Lightning defenders and has eaten up minutes on a nightly basis. He dealt with injury this season that limited him to just 47 games, but he heads into the offseason as one of the top free agent options remaining on the blue line. If Tampa Bay wanted to bring him back they’d need to find some extra cap space, as even at 32 he should command a multi-year contract.

D Dan Girardi — The same might not be true for Girardi, who is set to sign his next contract after his 35th birthday. That designation comes with added risk for teams, but performing decently enough in a reduced role for Tampa Bay there will still be someone who gives him the chance if he wants it. Girardi recorded 16 points in 62 games for the Lightning but was still a key penalty killer and trailed only Ryan McDonagh in blocked shots.

Projected Cap Space: The Lightning currently sit a little more than $10.6MM under the $81.5MM ceiling according to CapFriendly, but can also place Callahan’s $5.8MM hit on long-term injured reserve if necessary. LTIR designations are a little more complicated than just “free cap space” however, and with Point’s deal expected to add a huge chunk of salary the Lightning don’t have a ton of room for free agent shopping—just don’t tell them that.

While recency bias has hockey fans looking back on the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season as a failure due to their shocking early playoff exit, in reality the team was historically good, winning 62 games en route to 128 points and an easy President’s Trophy win. In general, most teams who enjoy that level of success would look to change as little as possible, even with the postseason disappointment. Last year’s Stanley Cup-winning Washington Capitals have become the standard for staying the course and, by all accounts, the Lightning expect to follow in their footsteps and avoid the temptation to make sweeping changes.

So what does Tampa do about this situation? The aforementioned cap dump seems a near certainty, as veteran forward Ryan Callahanis expected to be traded or bought out this summer. A buy out could give the Lightning the wiggle room to re-sign one of the four pending UFA’s, while a trade could either open up cap space or allow the team to bring in a blue liner with a bad contract like Callahan’s. Yet, Callahan alone is not the only move that the Bolts could make before next season. Smith mentions Miller as the easiest forward to trade away, as his trade protection does not kick in until the new league year on July 1st. Johnson, Palat, and Alex Killornall have full or limited No-Trade Clauses, making them harder to deal, but still expendable regardless. In moving any of those four valuable forwards – or even Point if negotiations reach an impasse – the Bolts would likely be able to land a talented defenseman in return.

Outside of Callahan though, the Lightning do not have to make other trades to form a capable defense. Internally, they already have a promising top-four in veteran stars Hedman and McDonagh and promising young rearguards Mikhail Sergachevand Erik Cernak. AHL standout Cal Footewill also challenge for a job in camp, while the team will almost certainly target a defenseman with the 27th overall pick in the first round this year, who could push for an NHL spot right away if they’re lucky. Moving Callahan, if salary does not come back in return, could enable the team to re-sign Rutta, likely the cheapest option of the four, or perhaps Coburn or Girardi on hometown discounts. It is hard to imagine Stralman being within their price range or any two returning. Yet, affordable options will also exist on the free agent market, as many players may be willing to sign for less for a shot at the Cup in Tampa Bay. Veteran UFA options who could come in under $2MM or so include Michael Del Zotto, Adam McQuaid, Ben Lovejoy, and Roman Polak, among others.

The only certainty when it comes to Tampa’s defense this season is that it will not look the same as it did last year. There is simply no financial way for the team to maintain the depth and balance on the blue line that this unit had, but some savvy moves this off-season could still keep the defense just as strong. How the team handles Point, Callahan, and the free agency and trade markets will be one of the more intriguing story lines this summer and could dictate whether the Bolts are able to follow the Capitals’ model and stay the course toward a championship following postseason disappointment.

Detroit’s defense corps is already shaken up considerably and they’ll now be missing another regular. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press notes that Trevor Daley is dealing with an upper-body injury and will not be available for tonight’s game in Anaheim; no further information about a potential return to action is available yet. He is the fourth regular out of their lineup, joining Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson, and Niklas Kronwall and as a result, the Red Wings will be dressing four rookies on their back end as they wrap up their road trip. Detroit, although well into their LTIR allotment, still has enough cap space remaining to bring someone up if none of their players are close to returning.

More from the Atlantic:

The Sabres will soon be facing a tough decision with center Johan Larsson soon, suggests Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. While he didn’t suit up today against Vegas, he’s close to returning from the lower-body injury he sustained in the preseason. However, Buffalo has a full roster and while they have a pair of waiver-exempt forwards in Tage Thompson and Casey Mittelstadt, it wouldn’t make sense to send one of them down to make room for Larsson. Accordingly, they’re going to have to decide if there’s still a place for the 26-year-old on the roster or if they’re going to need to try to either trade or waive him in the coming days. Larsson carries a $1.475MM cap hit and will be a restricted free agent next summer.

Tampa Bay center Cedric Paquette was only able to participate in part of practice today. He left Saturday’s game early after having his glove stepped on but head coach Jon Cooper indicated to reporters, including Bryan Burns of the Lightning’s team website (Twitter link), that his injury isn’t too serious. The team is off until Thursday so there’s a chance that the 25-year-old may be back in the lineup without even missing a game.

Canadiens center Jacob de la Rose returned to practice today for the first time since suffering a cardiac episode following their final preseason game last month, notes Postmedia’s Pat Hickey. However, he has not yet received the green light from doctors to resume playing so he’ll remain on injured reserve for now. Meanwhile, winger Nicolas Deslauriers is also skating on his own and Hickey suggests that the veteran could return to the lineup next week. With 14 forwards already on the roster, it appears as if Montreal will soon be facing a roster crunch.

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Entry Level Contracts

After a impressive rookie campaign, the Lightning knew they had a special player in Point, who proceeded to have a breakout year as the team’s second-line center. Point, who is good enough to be a No. 1 center, provided the team with a 32-goal, 66-point season. Now in his third year, Point could really walk away with a huge payday if he can equal or even better on that performance this year. Cirelli looks to have the third-line center spot locked down after the 21-year-old had a successful, but short stint, last season. He posted five goals and 11 points in 18 games last season and played in all 17 games of the playoffs, adding a pair of goals.

Sergachev has two years remaining on his contract and the 20-year-old defenseman had an up and down season, but still posted a nine-goal, 40-point season. He did have trouble getting regular minutes as the team often lost faith in his defensive play along with some immaturity issues. Regardless, the left-handed shot actually proved to head coach Jon Cooper that he can play on the right side, solving their depth issues on the right side. Sergachev should continue to develop his skills and also be in line for a big payday in two years.

For a team known for its defensive depth on its defense, it’s a little shocking to see that they only have three players signed after the 2018-19 season. Almost all of the team’s defense become free agents, restricted or otherwise, including Stralman, Coburn, Girardi, Koekkoek and Dotchin. With the team heavily laden in long-term deals, the team might be willing to allow Stralman, Coburn and Girardi to walk at the end of the year. All three are solid players, but there might not be any cap room to extend any of them, especially if the team has to give long-term deals to both Sergachev and Point. Stralman’s situation will be the most interesting as he’s a solid defenseman that complements his partner quite well and was the veteran who mentored Sergachev last season. Coburn and Girardi are likely expendable. Koekkoek and Dotchin will only be restricted free agents, but neither got a lot of playing time with the team, especially after the team added defensive talent at the trade deadline. However, both could play bigger roles this year, or within two years.

Another interesting decision the team will have to make is Gourde, who posted a breakout season in his first full season. The 26-year-old spent many years working on his game in the AHL before finally catching on with the Syracuse Crunch in 2014. From there he worked his way up before catching the team’s eye in training camp to win a spot. The result was a 25-goal, 64-point performance and now he has to prove he can duplicate that performance this season to get a big boost in his pay. For $1MM, Gourde may be the best bargain on the team, but he could get pricey quickly.Read more

Two Years Remaining

With the increase in salary being handed out to top goaltenders, the Lightning aren’t looking forward to Vasilevksiy’s contract negotations. Considered by many to be the top goaltender in the NHL at only 23 years old, Vasilevskiy will likely break the bank when the team signs him to a long-term deal. Montreal’s Carey Price ($10.5MM) and the eventual contract that Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky gets next year will likely just be the starting point for a goaltender who posted a .920 save percentage in 65 games last season.

The team should be able to salvage part of that raise from the expiring contract of Callahan (assuming they don’t trade or buy him out before then). Callahan, will be eventually missed as he’s the heart and soul of the team, but injuries have negated his presence for much of the last two years. Once his $5.8MM contract expires, the team can apply that towards a new contract for Vasilevskiy (plus quite a bit more). Callahan, 33, provides a physical presence, but he only played 67 games and he had an injured shoulder for quite a bit of that time after missing most of the 2016-17 game.

The team has locked up more players than most teams as they feel their core is ready to win for the next 10 years. The team started much of those signings back in 2016 when they were able to convince Stamkos to sign an eight-year, $68MM deal. Stamkos, who then got hurt in his first season and only played 17 games, bounced back with a solid season last year, posting 27 goals and 86 points. The 28-year-old posted impressive point totals, but saw his goal output drop after tallying 36 goals in 2015-16 and 43 in 2014-15 (not to mention the 60 in 2011-12). However, with Kucherov on his wing, there may not be a requirement to score as much.

Kucherov signed his eight-year, $76MM extension this offseason, as the team wanted to lock up their star winger, who many think is one of the top five players in the league. The 25-year-old posted a career-high in points, breaking 100 points this year. He also added 39 goals and now has scored 138 goals in the past four seasons.

Once the team locked up Stamkos, they immediately followed that up with an extension for Hedman, who proved he was worthy of the eight-year, $63MM deal when he won the Norris Trophy last season with a 17-goal, 63-point performance. The addition of McDonagh at the trade deadline only made Hedman’s job easier as McDonagh was able to share some of those tough minutes and help prevent Hedman from playing too many minutes in each game. The team then followed up on that by signing McDonagh to a seven-year, $47.3MM extension that will keep the veteran with the team until he’s 37 years old.

The team also locked up Palat and Johnson, two key wingers, to long-term extensions as well. The 27-year-old Palat has four years left on a five-year, $26.5MM deal. He was hampered by injuries last season, but still produced 11 goals and 35 points, but has the abilities to be a respectable 20-goals scorer year after year. The 28-year-old Johnson has six years remaining on his seven-year, $35MM contract and provided 21 goals and 50 points, providing solid top-six depth. The addition of Miller, who signed a five-year, $26.25MM deal this offseason, walked in and was an immediate fit on the team’s top line next to Stamkos and Kucherov. He combined for a career-high in goals and points as he gives the line much-needed size and style around the net.

The only player who seems to not be an impact player would be Killorn. the 28-year-old power forward, who the team handed a seven-year, $31.2MM contract back in 2016. With five years remaining at $4.45MM, Killorn still provides offense, but in a bottom-six role. He scored 15 goals and had a career-high 47 points, but $4.45MM is a lot of money for a player in that role.

Buyouts

D Matthew Carle ($1.83MM through 2019-20)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

Looking Ahead

The team has done an impressive job in building a franchise winner. They need only one thing — a Stanley Cup title — but the team has the pieces, most of which are just entering their prime, to accomplish just that. The franchise that general Steve Yzerman has things they have to deal with, but it seems to be in good hands. The team got a good deal out of Kucherov, who signed for slightly below-market value (thanks in part to Florida’s lack of state tax) and while they still have a few contracts they’ll have to deal with in the near future (Point, Sergachev, Gourde and Vasilevskiy), the team is set up perfectly to compete with the best teams in the leagues for the foreseeable future. They might even have the ability to take on another major contract like an Erik Karlsson if they wanted.

Lightning center Cedric Paquette was one of the few arbitration-eligible players that didn’t file. Now we know why as the team announced that they have re-signed him to a one-year, $1MM contract.

The 24-year-old played in 56 games with Tampa Bay last season, collecting five goals and four assists while logging a career-low 10:12 per game of ice time. Paquette’s role increased in the postseason as he became a regular (playing in all 17 contests) while his playing time jumped to 11:51 per game. In his career, he has played in 236 games (all with Tampa Bay), collecting 27 goals and 23 assists along with 41 PIMS.

The contract now gives the Lightning just under $3.4MM in cap space to work with and have just one player left to re-sign in winger Adam Erne. However, if they do plan to add another impact player this summer – whether that’s Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson or someone else – they’ll have to free up some money first. Not surprisingly, it was reported earlier today that Tampa Bay and Ottawa are seeking a third team to get involved in trade talks to take on a contract or two to help facilitate a trade.

Kunitz, who spent last season with Tampa Bay Lightning on their shutdown line, provides the Blackhawks with a veteran defensive presence, who still seems to be successful even at age 38. He, along with Ryan Callahan and Cedric Paquette, were responsible for shutting down teams’ top lines and were quite successful at it. The line was also adept at scoring as well as Kunitz scored 13 goals and totaled 29 points last season with Tampa Bay. The veteran also has lots of playoff success with his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins as he played for the franchise for nine years, winning three Stanley Cup titles.

Ward was less of a secret as the team had been rumored to be close to a deal with him for a few days already. The 13-year veteran, who played all his years in Carolina, moved into a backup role last year as he helped mentor former Blackhawk Scott Darling. However, despite that role, he still managed to play 43 games for the Hurricanes. The 34-year-old didn’t thrive as he finished with a 2.73 GAA and a .906 save percentage, but his experience and ability to handle a big load was critical for the Blackhawks who struggled after starter Corey Crawford went down for the season with a head injury in December last year. The team attempted to move forward with Anton Forsberg and Jeff Glass as their two goaltenders, but couldn’t make that work. Ward should provide more stability for the Blackhawks now.

Manning adds more defensive depth for the Blackhawks as the former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman has continued to increase his production over the course of his career as he scored seven goals and 19 points last season in 65 games and even played a more safety-conscious game this past season. However, his numbers also indicate that he’s just an adequate defender and is likely to fill the team’s need for bottom-six defenders.

Free agency is now less than a day from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Tampa Bay’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Cedric Paquette — Nine points hardly seems like a lot of points for key restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old Paquette isn’t about offense. The defense-first forward has been a key part of the team’s bottom-six line, which included Ryan Callahan and Kunitz line that was constantly put against opponents’ top lines. Now that he’s been qualified, Paquette, who scored just five goals during the regular season (and one in the playoffs) might be more needed than ever with Kunitz likely headed elsehere. Regardless, he could be in line for a significant raise after making $812K last year on his two-year bridge deal. Now with arbitration rights, he could walk away with quite a bit more.

D Slater Koekkoek — The 24-year-old blueliner has worked hard to try and break into the deep defensive core of Tampa Bay and did manage to get into 34 games last season and avoid a trip down to the Syracuse Crunch, but Koekkoek’s usefulness came to an end after Tampa Bay acquired Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline. From that point on, he appeared in just three regular season games and did not appear in the playoffs. While the team intends to bring him back, recent rumors that the team might consider trading the youngster are also a possibility. He made $800K last year on a one-year deal.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents:Andrej Sustr — The 27-year-old depth defender could easily find himself on a new team with the amount of defenders under contract in Tampa Bay. The blueliner had been a regular on the Lightning’s defense over the past three years, but he found himself often a healthy scratch with the addition of players like Mikhail Sergachev, Jake Dotchin, Koekkoek as well as McDonagh. After making $1.95MM last season in the last of his restricted free agent years, the team must decide if they want to bring back the undrafted free agent they signed back in 2013.

Chris Kunitz — The 38-year-old winger was a big part of the Lightning’s shutdown line along with Callahan and Paquette in his one year with Tampa Bay, but there is little indication that Kunitz is expected return. Despite a productive season in which he tallied 13 goals and 29 points last season, rumors suggest he’s interested in a possible return to Pittsburgh.

Projected Cap Space: The Lightning don’t have much cap space to work with this offseason as the team has just $5.3MM. On top of that, Tampa Bay has quite a few free agents they must deal with next year including Nikita Kucherov, McDonagh and Yanni Gourde to name a few, so they need to have as much cap room to maneuver with as possible. Despite their interest in John Tavares, don’t expect the team to dip heavily in the free agent market this year and more likely depend on their AHL depth to carry them through.

Notably, a very similar play with Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Josh Morrissey earlier in the playoffs did rise to the level of a suspension. In that case, the cross-check was explained as “not a routine motion to box out an opponent” which perhaps is the difference in decisions.

Kempny will not be forced to sit out any action for the Capitals, but the fine will go into consideration in any future reviews from the DoPS. He’ll have to operate under increased scrutiny, but it’s a worthwhile trade-off for a team that has relied on Kempny as a solid midseason addition to their blue line. The teams will return to action tomorrow night in Washington.

A tough night in Boston continues to have repercussions for the Tampa Bay Lightning. After a 3-2 loss to the Bruins, a score that doesn’t accurately reflect the lack of effort shown by the Bolts, the physical, frustrated style the team fell into will have a lasting effect into their next game, a Saturday matinee against the San Jose Sharks. Cedric Paquettehas received a one-game suspension for boarding, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced (video).

Down 2-0 early in the second period, after a dominant first period by the B’s, Paquette drove Boston defenseman Torey Kruginto the boards and received a minor penalty for boarding for his efforts. Player Safety decided that wasn’t enough, and Paquette’s hearing today has resulted in a one-game ban. Paquette had ample time to pull up or change the angle of his contract on Krug, who turned his back to play the puck on the end board. Instead, Paquette came at full force and drove Krug into the boards, turning an otherwise legal check into an illegal, suspendable check.

Fortunately, Krug – one of many Bruins who has struggled with injuries this season – was not hurt on the play. Team mate Frank Vatranowas also quick to jump in and defend him. The real justice for Krug was the Bruins holding on for the win against the Atlantic’s top team, as Boston won their fifth game in the past six outings.